I thought I would post a quick review of my newest toy - the Sako Quad. I have always been intrigued by this rifle since I first saw an article on it in 2003 Shooting Times. I finally took the plunge when I found a complete set from Bashaw Sports listed on special. The price was pretty darn good so I picked up the complete set: 22LR, 22WMR, 17Mach2 and 17HMR. I am still not sold on the 17Mach2 but it doesn't really hurt to own a spare barrel as well it is much harder to buy a single barreled rifle and find the other barrels as no one seems to be able to have them in stock.
When I picked up my rifle yesterday, it came packed in a nice brown box but the whole shebang was packed in a nice metal case:
Opening the case up, everything was wrapped in plastic with special grease paper to keep the metal all clean and rust free. It took about 30 mins but I gave everything a nice cleaning and oiled her up. After another hour I had a nice Leupold Tactical Vari-X III 3.5-10x40mm scope mounted on her. It required a set of high rimfire rings which I carefully aligned and lapped.
I originally tried to mount a set of mediums which fit and had the scope lower but I didn't like how easily the barrel could rub up against the scope when changing barrels so I went to Millett High Rings.
While the scope sits a tad higher then I am used to, she actually doesn't "feel" high at all and naturally comes to the eye with a good cheek weld. One of the complaints that I heard from guys not recommending this rifle was the amount of plastic on it. The bolt shroud, trigger housing, stock and bolt handle are synthetic. While it doesn't bother me now, I may decide to go to rimfire technologies and order the bottom metal, bolt handle, and possibly a picatinny rail but at this point in time I don't really mind the way the synthetic feels.
All this is nice but how does she shoot? I took her to the range this afternoon and while the weather wasn't the best for shooting (8 degrees Celsius and 25 KPH winds) I was pleasantly surprised. I first tried the 22LR barrel and Lapua Midas "L" ammunition. At 25m, she created a 1 hole group (probably .25") I never bothered to take the target down as it didn't impress me that much as I expect a high end shooter to group well at 25m. At 50m with Midas she grouped 0.575" and with Eley Tenex she grouped 0.549". It was pretty decent but I am confident when it is nicer out I can shrink those groups as the wind was very intermittent at periods and I was starting to shiver.
I immediately switched to the 17HMR barrel and fired 11 shots at 50. It was the remainder of a box of Hornady VMAX 17 Grain ammunition that I had which grouped very well in my Ruger 17HMR. The first shot took me about 2 mins to find on the target as the hole was small and it had moved 5.75" high and 3.00" right. After firing 11 shots, the group was .809" I was pretty pleased but not overly impressed as I have seen 17HMR rifles shoot some really tight groups and they seem to do well.
I finally switched to the 22WMR barrel and fired 8 shots at 50. It was CCI Minimag 40 grain hollowpoint ammunition. This was the litmus test for me as I have never had much luck with tight shooters in this calibre. I was immediately pleased to see 0.844" group appear on the paper 3.25" High and 2.75" Right. I fired a second group with Winchester Powerpoint 40 grain Silver Box. It also grouped a 5 shot group into 0.65".
I didn't have any Mach 2 ammunition to try out but I have a line on some and will likely need to order it in. I expect it to land between the 17 HMR and the 22WMR but would like to confirm it. I was pretty happy to see that switching the barrel created a consistent shift for the HMR and WMR from the 22LR. I will need to fire more groups to confirm this but I think this will be a fun shooter. I am pretty certain that I will need to fire a confirming group every time I switch the barrel and adjust the scope but it is too early to tell; how far off the barrel and scope adjustments will be. Ideally they are close enough to hunt with but it wasn't pleasant enough outside to keep switching barrels and shoot groups.
As for if I would recommend this rifle to another shooter... I am mixed - if you are a hardcore shooter who shoots frequently, I would say a definite "yes" as the versatility and accuracy are there. If you like to plink and don't take shooting as seriously, I would say a definite "no" as you could probably buy a 17HMR and 22LR with scopes for half the price. I personally see value in only three of the 4 barrels but I really like to shoot so I may use the HM2 and LR for target and HMR and WMR for hunting/gophers.
When I picked up my rifle yesterday, it came packed in a nice brown box but the whole shebang was packed in a nice metal case:
Opening the case up, everything was wrapped in plastic with special grease paper to keep the metal all clean and rust free. It took about 30 mins but I gave everything a nice cleaning and oiled her up. After another hour I had a nice Leupold Tactical Vari-X III 3.5-10x40mm scope mounted on her. It required a set of high rimfire rings which I carefully aligned and lapped.
I originally tried to mount a set of mediums which fit and had the scope lower but I didn't like how easily the barrel could rub up against the scope when changing barrels so I went to Millett High Rings.
While the scope sits a tad higher then I am used to, she actually doesn't "feel" high at all and naturally comes to the eye with a good cheek weld. One of the complaints that I heard from guys not recommending this rifle was the amount of plastic on it. The bolt shroud, trigger housing, stock and bolt handle are synthetic. While it doesn't bother me now, I may decide to go to rimfire technologies and order the bottom metal, bolt handle, and possibly a picatinny rail but at this point in time I don't really mind the way the synthetic feels.
All this is nice but how does she shoot? I took her to the range this afternoon and while the weather wasn't the best for shooting (8 degrees Celsius and 25 KPH winds) I was pleasantly surprised. I first tried the 22LR barrel and Lapua Midas "L" ammunition. At 25m, she created a 1 hole group (probably .25") I never bothered to take the target down as it didn't impress me that much as I expect a high end shooter to group well at 25m. At 50m with Midas she grouped 0.575" and with Eley Tenex she grouped 0.549". It was pretty decent but I am confident when it is nicer out I can shrink those groups as the wind was very intermittent at periods and I was starting to shiver.
I immediately switched to the 17HMR barrel and fired 11 shots at 50. It was the remainder of a box of Hornady VMAX 17 Grain ammunition that I had which grouped very well in my Ruger 17HMR. The first shot took me about 2 mins to find on the target as the hole was small and it had moved 5.75" high and 3.00" right. After firing 11 shots, the group was .809" I was pretty pleased but not overly impressed as I have seen 17HMR rifles shoot some really tight groups and they seem to do well.
I finally switched to the 22WMR barrel and fired 8 shots at 50. It was CCI Minimag 40 grain hollowpoint ammunition. This was the litmus test for me as I have never had much luck with tight shooters in this calibre. I was immediately pleased to see 0.844" group appear on the paper 3.25" High and 2.75" Right. I fired a second group with Winchester Powerpoint 40 grain Silver Box. It also grouped a 5 shot group into 0.65".
I didn't have any Mach 2 ammunition to try out but I have a line on some and will likely need to order it in. I expect it to land between the 17 HMR and the 22WMR but would like to confirm it. I was pretty happy to see that switching the barrel created a consistent shift for the HMR and WMR from the 22LR. I will need to fire more groups to confirm this but I think this will be a fun shooter. I am pretty certain that I will need to fire a confirming group every time I switch the barrel and adjust the scope but it is too early to tell; how far off the barrel and scope adjustments will be. Ideally they are close enough to hunt with but it wasn't pleasant enough outside to keep switching barrels and shoot groups.
As for if I would recommend this rifle to another shooter... I am mixed - if you are a hardcore shooter who shoots frequently, I would say a definite "yes" as the versatility and accuracy are there. If you like to plink and don't take shooting as seriously, I would say a definite "no" as you could probably buy a 17HMR and 22LR with scopes for half the price. I personally see value in only three of the 4 barrels but I really like to shoot so I may use the HM2 and LR for target and HMR and WMR for hunting/gophers.
